Sasuke & Hinata
by Narika
Summary: AU. Romeo and Juliet Naruto style? We've added twists and turns of all sorts to the plot for quite a few laughs, snorts, and giggles. From the looks of things, nothing is what it seems to be! Will it be for better..or for worse?
1. Welcome to Their Life

Narika's Note: I've always loved humorous stories, whether it can actually happen or not. I've read quite a few fics of mind-boggling randomness yet I still laugh my head off. So here, we have a humorous story that I hope you'll read for some laughs! D

Baka's Note: Baka doesn't talk to you. She doesn't like you.

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**Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)  
**By Narika & Baka

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Chapter One – Welcome to Their Life

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Everyone knows the tale of young Romeo and Juliet. They are two young people whose families are fighting, but Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight. They get married secretly, but do not live happily ever after. Of course, Sasuke & Hinata twists the tale of those two lovers in a totally different direction. So, young reader, plow on and read if you dare.

"Make way for Prince Kazekage! Move you fools! Jeez, I hate this job..." Unfortunately for Iruka, as stable hand of the Prince, he had to lead the beautifully groomed, pure white horses through the treacherous streets of Suna. It was terribly dry...and sandy.

The Prince's advisor suggested, "Prince, perhaps we should go somewhere without...sand, if possible."

"Sarutobi, I seriously doubt that anywhere in this entire city does not have a grain of sand!" Prince Kazekage shouted over the loud wind...and sand.

"Perhaps we should move the city elsewhere?"

"You baka! How would we ever be able to leave this stupidly sandy desert?"

The townspeople did not care to move aside for the Prince, only because something had caught their eye. Of course, what else would it be but entertainment?

The Hatake and Maito servants were firing up a fight, and no one would bother to stop them. The fights between these two families were always exciting. One time last year, the Hatake servants poured water upon the sand and started a mud fight. The whole city soon got involved in the fun activity and since everyone was covered in mud, no one could tell who was on which side. So, needless to say, the fight got very messy.

Anyways, the current fight was quite interesting...or at least it was going to be.

Splat. Kiba spat on the splotch of sand in front of the Maito servants and released a growl.

"Do you, sir, growl at us?" said the scary Shino. There are rumors that he has fangs, but no one could see behind the large coat that covered half his face. He could still be very intimidating. Kiba, however, was not afraid to bark some more.

"No, I do not growl at you, but at the sand of course! But you sir, do you stick your tongue out at us? I swear I smell it!" Kiba retorted.

"This is just so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. Kiba always had to add fuel to the fire. And Shikamaru thought it was too troublesome to stop him. The result is: there's always a fight.

"Hi Shikamaru!" Chouji waved, "Wanna go to that restaurant again?"

"..." Shino and Kiba stared. "Thou should not be dining with the enemy! Chouji, I'm disappointed in thou. Thou should control thy temptations to eateth!" Shino scolded.

"Shino, why are you speaking like that?" Chouji pondered.

"Because I felt it was proper to speak in Shakespearean language during that exact moment. But I guess now we can drop the formalities and fight." Shino sent a bug onto Kiba's nose.

"Hey! No fair! You're making me look cross-eyed!" Kiba shouted. He barked furiously in rage.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru and Chouji whipped out a shogi board and the pieces and set off into a long, long game. "You can go first Chouji."

Kiba drew his...kunai, but then threw it aside in exchange for using his claws. Shino's bugs crawled unnoticed toward Kiba's feet and started up his foot. Kiba started laughing. "Shino, you're cheating again! Your stupid bugs are tickling me!"

Kiba picked up a watermelon and threw it. His foot had shifted and killed a bug. This made Shino furious. Shino picked up a banana and threw it at Kiba. Kiba ducked however and it hit the next stand, knocking over a large, expensive vase. And chaos ensued.

The Prince looked on with disdain. He would have shouted, "STOP FIGHTING YOU FOOLS!" but instead said calmly, "Let's go through the smaller streets to avoid going through the rowdy crowd."

His fanfare and servants sighed.

Years ago—well, only a year ago, but let's not ruin the story here—in the far distant land of crummy sand, there lived a Prince. He had the coolest villages in his country, but unfortunately, the people were not all that friendly. The Maito and Hatake families had started a fight...a large fight that had been passed down for generations. The Prince had issued an order for them to stop brawling in the streets or they would pay for the damages with their lives.

"STOP RIGHT NOW! NO MORE FIGHTING OR ELSE I'LL KILL WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE!" Prince Kazekage had shouted. Everyone shut up pretty quickly and rushed back into their houses to avoid the Prince's anger.

Now you see, the Maito and Hatake families were not always enemies. They worked together sometimes. And this time, they formulated a plan to get the Prince to just bug off.

The Prince was not so fortunate. When he awoke the next morning and yawned sleepily. He got up and out of bed to open the curtains...and to his horror, there were streaks of white all over his sandy lawn, the sandy walls, the sandy trees, and even all over his window. He struggled into his clothing and rushed out to find out who did it.

There was no reason to though, for the people who did it clearly left their mark. Left on his sandy lawn was a green jumpsuit and a perverted novel known as Icha Icha Paradise. I wonder...

The Prince was very upset, but he could not stop the two families from fighting anymore. Apparently, threatening their lives wasn't enough, and he couldn't think of anything else he could use against them. In the end, he could only ignore them. Poor Prince Kazekage.

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_Baka – fool, idiot, and stupid person._

For anyone who's curious, reviews are worshipped!


	2. To the Costume Shop!

Narika's Note: Yes, we know it's a bit confuzzling but we'll definitely explain it better as the story moves on. Please note that the both of us have read up to Chapter 256 in the manga so there may be characters you don't know. A great place to look them up is on NarutoFan. And don't even worry if you haven't read _Romeo and Juliet_ before! We've added humor to the cooking pot and it'll surely turn out different. Please remember that this is an AU, so the bad guys can be good guys too.

Baka's Note: Baka doesn't talk to you. She doesn't like you. She likes Gaara, though. He'll be in the next chapter!

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**Sasuke & Hinata**  
By Narika & Baka

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Chapter Two – To the Costume Shop!

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The kunai lodged itself in the already beat-up target. That was number one hundred. Sasuke decided to go home for dinner. He retrieved his kunai, stuck it back in his pouch, and broke into a steady jog. Some fangirls spotted him, however, and he broke into a really fast sprint. He rushed home and almost ran into the wall, but his good friend and cousin, Lee, stopped him.

"Sasuke! Where have you been? Another fight broke out today and you missed it!" Lee exclaimed.

"I was training," Sasuke replied, letting his thoughts wander.

"Oh. You should at least go check out the damage that was done. The streets are filled with junk leftover from the fight."

"What was the cause this time around?" Sasuke asked while heading inside. Lee followed, eyes bright as he told each detail.

"...Kiba started it! One of Shino's bugs was killed and he got upset like usual. That darned Hatake servant! He always irritates Shino and we find bugs in our food because Shino can't concentrate due to the loss of a dear friend. ANYWAYS...It was an all out food fight. Pies, fruits, and vegetables were thrown all over. I'm guessing that there's going to be lots of cleaning this week." The Maito and Hatake fights were fun, but everyone helps to clean up afterwards.

"Cleaning? How about partying?" Naruto added, "I heard about this one party at the Hatake house! It'll be so much fun! It's a costume party so we can get in without any problems. Why don't we go?"

Lee shouted with glee while punching the air, "YES! We should go!"

Sasuke, however, ignored Naruto and continued to his room. Naruto wasn't about to let his friend off the hook. A devilish grin crawled onto Naruto's face.

Throwing an arm around Sasuke's shoulder, he asked, "Why don't you come with us? It's not like your fangirls are going to recognize you."

Sasuke pushed Naruto away and threw him a look that said,_ "Are you kidding?"_

"Or maybe they will, but still...Sakura's going." Naruto said in a teasing tone, his smirk reaching his ears.

Sasuke's ears twitched at the aforementioned name and his body stood shock still. His feet wouldn't move and his mind stopped thinking logically.

Naruto knew that he had struck a chord within Sasuke's soul. He decided to coax Sasuke some more.

"Just imagine her silky, pink hair matching her equally silky pink dress and that perfect body and those dazzling green eyes..." Naruto could spot those shivers of excitement crawling along Sasuke's spine. He counted five seconds. Five...four...three...two...

"When is the party?" Sasuke asked, trying to hide the impatient tone in his voice.

Naruto didn't bother to hide the delight in his tone, "The day after tomorrow! Let's go to find a cool costume tonight!"

"Yea! I'm going to find a cool ninja suit!" Lee exclaimed.

"No. I'm not going anywhere tonight." Sasuke said firmly.

"Fine, we'll go tomorrow." Naruto said, looking offended.

Sasuke responded by shutting the door of his bedroom in Naruto's face. Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and went off to find his cronies and inform them of the grand costume party occurring at the Hatake house.

* * *

"Lee! Have you seen Sasuke recently? He's been leaving the house late the night. I guess he's just enjoying the time of his youth! He shouldn't make me worry so much though." Gai babbled.

"He's fine. I saw him earlier today and he told me he was training. We're going to a costume party with Naruto the day after tomorrow!" Lee explained.

"Oh! That sounds great! You guys will definitely need ultra cool costumes. And with the ones I have, the girls will all be drooling!" Gai said enthusiastically with a wacky smile and his thumbs up pose.

* * *

Tsunade observed her husband's excitement bubble as he chatted animatedly with her nephew. The two looked almost identical. Most people were amazed thinking that Maito Gai was Sasuke's father. Some thought that the reason why Sasuke turned out to be such a good-looking guy was because Tsunade's genes were obviously more dominant than the thick-browed Gai. How? Well, most people didn't know if it was humanly possible for the beautiful Tsunade to marry and have children with such a guy. There were rumors of Sasuke's _real_ father, but let's not spoil the fun.

Tsunade always observed her son Sasuke very carefully and realized way before Gai that Sasuke had been spending time alone to train, secluded from the rest of the world due to girl problems. She noticed the way he stared at that pink-haired Haruno Sakura while they were at big events. She knew that it was hormonal and it would eventually pass, but she was worried. His heart or Sakura's will be broken once they realize the truth.

She sighed wistfully, turning her attention to find her dear piggy, Tonton. It was Tonton's dinner time so it wasn't that hard. Tonton, after all, is a little piggy, and all pigs like to eat.

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"...And I mentioned Sakura's name and he just snapped! This will be so fun!" Naruto explained to his cronies. Naruto loved to have some fun and joke around.

"Shut up you noisy bastard," said Tayuya, clearly annoyed by Naruto's overwhelming cheerfulness.

"Girls shouldn't curse so much, Tayuya," said Jiroubou.

"Shut up fatass," she spat back.

"Tayuya's right. We don't need to hear that you invited Sasuke to someone else's party every minute of the morning," Sakon said as they followed Naruto to Sasuke's room.

Naruto banged his fist against the delicately carved door.

"Come on! Let's go get costumes!"

No answer. He opened the door and noticed the lump on the bed. Naruto grinned evilly. He signaled for Kimimaro, the drummer, and Tayuya, the piper, to play some music as Kidoumaru juggled a bunch of colorful balls. Naruto's fingers snapped and Kidoumaru chucked the individual balls at the lump that was Sasuke.

"Ow. Ow! Ow! Ow! OW! OW! OW!" Sasuke groaned as each ball hit his back.

Naruto laughed at heartily at his friend's pain. He skipped over to the curtains and threw the heavy velvet aside so that the sunlight flooded in.

Sasuke responded by submerging himself beneath the comfy quilt in attempt to hide from the sunlight and Naruto. Unfortunately, Naruto tugged the covers off and dragged Sasuke over to the closet.

"Hurry up and get dressed so we can go!" Naruto whined.

Sasuke knew that it was late in the morning so he should be up anyways. Naruto waited impatiently and pulled Sasuke along with his cronies to set off for the shop in town.

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Thank you to all the reviewers! We love you much, but not enough to write a new chapter immediately. I'm juggling Senseless Seredipity and Sasuke & Hinata at the same time, so I'm taking turns for updating. Please review! Reviews are printed out and put in a jar of folded stars. xP 


	3. Yummy

Author's Note: Don't expect updates often, although I'll try my best. I have other fics to update as well, so please be patient! We're working on this when we can squeeze in time. Reviewers are loved for an eternity!

Baka's Note: ...Go Sasu/Oro! -fangirls stare in horror-

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Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)  
By Narika & Baka

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Chapter Three – Yummy

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"Oh my! Hinata, that dress is absolutely gorgeous on you!" Sakura and Ino squealed simultaneously. 

"What do you think?" Hinata asked Orochimaru, her faithful nurse.

"Hmm...it looks good," he replied while thumbing the page of the latest issue of Vogue magazine. He happened to be looking at a model wearing a similar outfit. "The guys will be drooling puddles," he added.

"Try this one!" Ino and Sakura exclaimed, each holding another outfit. They glared at each other in annoyance, arguing that one outfit was better than the other. Hinata said to them, "I'll try on both of the outfits! They're equally magnificent."

Hinata was whisked away to the changing room, just as a group of guys walked into the store.

"Hello boys! How may I help you?" questioned the lady in charge.

"We're looking for some costumes to add to our sexiness!" Naruto shouted.

Orochimaru glanced over at the young boys thinking, _"That blond looks...yummy. All that orange and yellow...looks like some sort of candy. Oh, candycorn! That's it! But that guy with a bird's nest for hair...he is way yummier..."_

Sasuke glanced around the shop casually, spotting a rather ugly-looking woman with really bad mascara. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he noticed that it was actually a man wearing a nurse's outfit. He also noticed that Naruto had already skipped over to the costumes, leaving Sasuke rather...vulnerable. He quickly hid behind a dinosaur outfit.

Orochimaru giggled under his breath in amusement, resisting the urge to give the guy with the bird's nest for hair a little wave. Instead, he turned to the next page in his Vogue magazine—the one with the celebrity gossip.

"Sasuuuuke! Where did you go? I found the perfect costume for you!" Naruto called merrily. "Oh, there you are! Hey, that dinosaur costume looks excellent too!" Naruto said while grabbing the only thing that was hiding Sasuke from that freaky fellow's view. Sasuke quickly hurried after Naruto, almost tripping on the dinosaur's tail.

Naruto did not suspect anything and simply dragged Sasuke towards the changing room, where Kidoumaru held a variety of costumes for Sasuke to try on. Shino stood to the side, merely playing with the bugs on the fake plant, while Chouji munched on some chips, as usual. Upon seeing Sasuke, Lee shouted, "These costumes are so cool!" while holding up the unusual green jumpsuit. "I AM SOOO BUYING THIS ONE!" he exclaimed with fire in his round eyes.

Sasuke tried his best to hide his horror at the costume of Lee's choice, emphasis on _tried_. He did not have much time to say anything though, since Naruto dragged everyone to the changing room to try all the outfits in the large handful he had picked out.

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Meanwhile, Hinata stepped out of the changing room in yet another outfit. She shyly tapped her fingers together, looking down at the ground. Finally glancing at the mirror she noticed Sakura and Ino with surprised looks on their faces. They both squealed, "You look so beautiful in that!" so loudly that even the usually ignorant Naruto thought he heard something. 

Hinata blushed profusely as Sakura and Ino complimented her on every little bit of the costume. Smiling happily, Hinata changed back into her regular clothes, and she went to pay for the costume.

Sasuke headed toward the counter to pay for his costume, passing a girl along the way. She carried a large shopping bag, while her friends giggled over how wonderful it would be for the upcoming costume party. Sasuke noticed her gentle manner, the shy blush, and the heartwarming smile that she displayed as she walked out, and the door shut behind her.

"Sasuke?" Naruto waved his hand in front of Sasuke's face, receiving no reaction. He prodded Sasuke's side, still receiving no reaction. Naruto shoved the bag of costumes in Sasuke's face, finally catching his attention.

"What?"

"Sakura just passed by and you didn't notice! What's gotten into you?"

"What are you talking about, Naruto?"

"Look there!" Naruto said while shoving Sasuke's head against the window. Unfortunately, Sasuke's eyes stayed focused upon the girl sandwiched between Ino and Sakura, ignoring Naruto's babbling while staring at her.

Lee eagerly pressed his face against the shop's window, "Hey, what are you guys looking at?"

* * *

Ino, Hinata, and Sakura turned their heads at exactly the same moment, suspecting someone was staring at them. Sasuke quickly pushed himself out of Naruto's grasp, which caused Naruto to tumble to the floor, and Lee merely waved aimlessly at the girls who didn't even notice him. Shino and the others sighed in embarrassment because of the idiocy of the aforementioned people. Ino, Hinata, and Sakura shrugged it off as they just got a chill and continued heading to the Hatake household. 

"You're back! Did you girls have fun finding costumes today?" Kurenai asked her daughter, Hinata, and her friends. Being the mother hen, she always worried about her daughter's shyness, so Kurenai encouraged Hinata to go out with her friends. The girls chatted animatedly with Kurenai, squealing over how wonderful Hinata looked in the costume and talked anxiously about the upcoming party.

Kakashi listened to the girls, pleased with their interest in the costume party. Looking up from his book, he spotted the evident excitement in Hinata's eyes. As a young man, Kakashi had always loved parties, and he guessed that his daughter inherited the trait. The book caught his attention again, for he was curious to find out more about the main character in Icha Icha Tactics.

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Eventually, the boys rushed out of the costume shop, heading back to the Maito household, informing Gai, who had been searching for them, of their grand adventure in the ocean of costumes and showing off their sexy costumes. Well, only Lee did so while everyone else dispersed among the house to find better things to do. The costume party tomorrow served as the only highlight of their week, and since the party was not until tomorrow, everyone found their own things to work on. Naruto gathered his buddies and worked on a new act, Chouji wandered off to the kitchens for his snack, Shino disappeared to the vast gardens in the back of the mansion, and Sasuke simply returned to his room.

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"Umm, Sir?" the cashier questioned, wondering whether the thing sitting in her shop was a man or a woman. "I need to close the shop now," she continued. 

"Oh, sorry darling. I must have lost track of time." Orochimaru replied, head lifting up from behind his Vogue magazine. He chuckled at what he had witnessed throughout the day, heading to the Hatake mansion while laughing all the while about the candycorn and the guy with a bird's nest for hair. As it seemed, he'd have to follow the girls around more often and see what other fun people he'd meet. Orochimaru, however, was most satisfied with the looks upon the boys' faces as he casually glanced at them. All of them had froze for a moment, and then quickly left the shop. No worries, though, because he suspected that he would be seeing those boys again in the near future.


	4. Gaara's Proposal

Narika's Note: Looks like I'm sort of stuck with Senseless Serendipity, so we have yet another chapter of Sasuke & Hinata. Warning: If you do not hit the review button, Orochimaru the nurse will haunt you for an eternity!

Baka's Note: -clings to Gaara- Miiiiiiiiiiine.

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Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)  
By Narika & Baka

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Chapter Four – Gaara's Proposal

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... 

Hinata sighed as she watched a pair of birds circle each other while chirping. They looked so peaceful and carefree, drifting amongst the leafy branches reaching for the heavens. Hinata's thoughts were constantly wandering from whatever task she was supposed to be doing, pulling her close to the creatures of nature she loved to observe. She always wished to be something else, other than herself. Whether she was glancing at the fish in the pond, the birds in the sky, or the fox in the forest, Hinata felt sadness overcome her heart. The animals lived without anyone telling them what to do, and could go anywhere they wanted to, except for the fish. Hinata pondered about the school of fish swimming in the small pond happily. They were content, even though they couldn't escape to sea. They swam, were fed, and had clean water, but they were sheltered from the rest of the world. Hinata felt that she needed more than just movement, food, and water in her life. She needed love from someone who would take care of her and make her happy for the rest of her life. Hinata was like any other girl, constantly dreaming of a gallant young man that would come one day and sweep her off her feet and shower her with affection. However, she did not know that her parents were speaking to a candidate while she was still daydreaming in the backyard.

* * *

... 

"This is certainly quite a surprise," Hatake Kakashi remarked, glancing with no expression upon seeing the visitor.

"Honey, who is it?" Kurenai asked curiously, tiptoeing to peek over her husband's shoulder. "Oh my! Gaara, please come in."

It would be bad to keep Count Gaara waiting for any amount of time. He wasn't one to be kind and patient with people. It was rumored that even Prince Kazekage, ruler of the country, was scared silly at the mention of Gaara's short name.

Gaara was a straight-to-the-point kind of guy, a say-your-last-words-quickly kind of guy. Fortunately, he did not visit the Hatake household for one of those horribly negative reasons, or maybe it was.

"I wish to marry Hinata," Gaara said bluntly.

Kakashi and Kurenai blinked, evidently very surprised.

"Why?" Kakashi asked. "You two are still quite young, and you barely know each other..."

Not liking to answer any questions, Gaara simply replied with an "I'll be at the costume party later" and promptly exited without any show of emotion on his face.

Stunned with Gaara's sudden appearance and quick disappearance, Hinata's parents stood at the now empty doorway staring at the empty space that used to be Gaara. Kurenai nervously mumbled something about the party and rushed off to attend to the decorations, while Kakashi's expression remained the same bored look. He whipped out a book out of who-knows-where, flipping it open to the exact page where he last left off, walking around the courtyard while letting out stifled giggles at the contents within the book.

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... 

The dusty, old grandfather clock rang dully, but loudly, signaling the twentieth hour of the day. The sparkling lamps were scattered throughout the grand Hatake mansion, guiding the newcomers along to the most alluring ballroom in all of Suna. Tonight, the most exquisite party had finally started, and many people, friends and family, were dressed up in fabulous costumes for the occasion.

Hinata observed the many shadows passing by, each of them distinctive and decorated lavishly to accommodate the grandeur of the party. She could see the short kids in the cutest of costumes, bubbling with excitement or clinging onto their respective parents. There was quiet among the adolescents, for they were at an age where first impressions either did not matter at all or meant the world. Hinata observed the adults making their introductions from a far distance, clearly unsure of whether she should proudly step out into the ballroom, simply remain hidden for the entire evening, or leave and change out of her costume and into an uncomplicated kimono. She opted to remain hidden, but her mother had just spotted her and motioned for Hinata to come greet the guests. Sighing at her own inability to be discreet, she carefully made her way to where her parents were standing. Hurriedly nearing the door, Hinata had completed her way across the lustrous room so warily that something just had to occur. Most unfortunately, Hinata tripped on the rug due to the high-heeled boots she was wearing and fell in a most ungraceful manner. Luckily for her, someone had caught her arms at just the right moment, preventing her from toppling to the ground in an embarrassed heap. Her pearl eyes slowly moved up to take in the features of the person that had just rescued her from utmost embarrassment. Of course, it was silly of her to start from the bottom up, since everyone was all decked out in costume, but she could see the material of the costume was expensive. It was a velvety—no, silky—brown and glimmered slightly in the dim lighting. Paws replaced feet with realistic claws scratching the floor lightly. The brown silk extended all the way up to the neck where she saw the green eyes outlined in black. Hinata gasped, realizing it was Gaara, relative of Prince Kazekage of Suna! She nervously backed away saying, "I'm sorry for troubling you." and intended to go back to her small corner and hide for the rest of the night, but Gaara stopped her.

"Why are you running from me?" he asked, voice a little louder than usual.

Hinata stopped, of course, but not without noticing the hint of sadness laced into his voice. Now that she thought about it, the kids of the neighborhood always feared Gaara and would not go near him. Actually, Gaara was rarely seen outside of his large mansion. Whenever Hinata walked by his mansion, she always found that Gaara was watching her from a far window. It sincerely scared the timid Hinata thinking that he was observing her very closely.

"I'm sorry." Hinata replied humbly. She couldn't really think of what else to say in response.

Gaara, reminding himself not to scare her away, spoke in a quieter tone of voice, "You look beautiful in that costume. Please, don't be afraid...of me." Hinata fidgeted, a shy blush creeping onto her cheeks. A waltz started playing, the notes drifting all about the grand room. Taking the opportunity, Gaara asked gently, "Will you dance with me, Hinata?"

Hinata noticed his tone was soft and his eyes softened as he spoke those quiet words. He was really trying hard to reach out to her and be a bit more open towards her, so she nodded in response. He took her delicate, gloved hand in his paws without scratching her and they drifted to the dance floor.

Stepping around each other and twirling about the ballroom, Hinata felt a weight lift from her heart and smiled serenely as he spun her out and back toward his arms. She tripped slightly, but he caught her once again. Glancing at Gaara, she found a distant expression garnishing his features. Emotions saddening, Hinata felt relieved when they switched partners. She wasn't used to it since the man was a tad too tall and she was clumsy in her high-heeled boots, but soon enough, they switched partners again. Hinata felt strangely at ease with this boy. Perhaps it was his friendly demeanor, since he struck up a quiet conversation.

"Did you buy the costume, make it, or rent it?"

"I bought it, of course. It'd be impossible for me to make a costume like this for myself."

"It's quite nice though; it compliments your figure. You should wear it more often."

"But I'm absolutely too clumsy in these boots!"

"Wearing outfits a person is not used to usually brings out another side of a person. I'm not saying it brings out a bad side or anything..."

"And I assume your costume is supposed to bring out your...prehistoric instincts?"

Sasuke sighed at the remark. Naruto just had to make him buy the bulky, green dinosaur costume. He had said that the costume would disguise him well enough and that no one would be able to recognize him. Naruto pinned the tail on the back of the costume so that no one would trip on it, and Sasuke complained, but he was now able to dance quite gracefully with the beauty before him.

Sasuke had Naruto to thank for his great evening, for if Naruto hadn't dragged Sasuke to the costume shop and to the party, Sasuke would probably still be staring at the ceiling in his room. Although Sasuke had fallen for the Hatake's only and most precious daughter, Naruto had many difficulties in persuading the dark prince to make his appearance as a dinosaur at the formal costume party.

* * *

...

Gaara observed a green dinosaur dancing smoothly with the French maid in her teetering boots. He noticed that an angelic smile graced her features as she bantered with the bulky but refined dinosaur. He silently hoped that some misfortune would bestow itself upon the dinosaur so that Hinata would dance with him instead, but quickly pushed the devious thoughts away from his mind, as he was glomped by a random fangirl.

The waltz ended and a silence followed before another song took its place. Hinata, being shorter than the dinosaur, glanced curiously at his facial features, and gasped upon realization. It was Sasuke, prized son of the fated Maito family! Too absorbed in her thoughts as he thanked her for the dance and turned to walk away, she did not notice that her gloved hand reach out to grab him and her feet weren't moving along. Sasuke felt someone tugging on his side, the seams of the costume threatening to burst, and quickly turned around, but it was too late. Hinata lost her balance, swaying uncontrollably in her efforts to regain her balance until she tipped over, eyes wide as she saw the marble floor coming closer to her face.

* * *

... 

Reviews are cherished forever.


	5. Song and Dance

Disclaimer: We do not own whatever song the characters end up singing.

Narika's Note: I hate cliffhangers as well, but they really make fics so much fun. So, instead of continuing the story, we will have a blast from the past. I'd like to thank everyone for their loving patience and loving reviews. So THANK YOU!

Baka's Note: Whee.

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Sasuke & Hinata  
By Narika & Baka

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Chapter Five – Song and Dance

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"COME ON OUT, SASUKE!" Naruto shouted. He was anxious to get to the party and show off his costume. Sasuke, however, simply had no clue how Naruto had convinced him that this was the right costume.

"I DON'T FEEL LIKE GOING ANYMORE!" Sasuke replied, obviously uncomfortable with the fact that the girl of his dreams would see him in a costume of a green dinosaur. Unfortunately for him, Naruto had his cronies grab Sasuke so that they wouldn't be late for the costume party.

* * *

Once outside, Sasuke started panicking, turning pale and refusing to walk. Naruto quickly thought of a way to calm him down so that he would enjoy the party. A true prankster, he already knew Sasuke's weaknesses. He rounded up Kimimaro, Tayuya, Sakon, Kidoumaru, and Jiroubou, and whispered what he wanted them to do.

Kimimaro started singing, "_Ma-ia-hii...Ma-ia-huu...Ma-ia-hoo...Ma-ia-haha_."

"_Ma-ia-hii...Ma-ia-huu...Ma-ia-hoo...Ma-ia-haha_," Tayuya sang.

Kidoumaru continued while dancing to the beat, "_Ma-ia-hii...Ma-ia-huu...Ma-ia-hoo...Ma-ia-haha._"

"_Ma-ia-hii...Ma-ia-huu...Ma-ia-hoo...Ma-ia-haha_," Jiroubou finished.

Naruto took the lead, "_Alo, Salut, sunt eu, un haiduc, si te rog, iubirea mea, primeste fericirea_."

Sakon continued, "_Alo, alo, sunt eu Picasso, ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic, dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic._"

Everyone sang the next part together,

"_Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai."_

Sasuke turned red with embarrassment. Naruto had found out about his favorite song! He kept trying to resist the urge to start dancing, but his body would not obey his will. Dancing, he also started singing,

"_Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai."_

Naruto, seeing Sasuke getting into it, continued singing,

"_Te sun, sa-ti spun, ce simt acum,  
Alo, iubirea mea, sunt eu, fericirea."_

Sasuke continued, unable to resist to the song and dance,  
"_Alo, alo, sunt iarasi eu, Picasso,  
Ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic,  
Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic."_

The joyous group sang most of the way to the costume party, rather loudly and seemingly drunkenly. Anyone passing by them would pull their cloak tighter and walk closer to the wall, trying to avoid the group. However, if they were a good distance away, they might have enjoyed a chuckle or two from watching a green dinosaur and a furry fox singing and dancing to a song that barely anyone understood.

* * *

Upon arriving at the party, Sasuke kept searching for Hinata, but she was being a wallflower, hiding in the shadows of the grand ballroom. It was when she had stepped to the dance floor that Sasuke had finally seen her in her stunning costume. The black and white French maid's outfit suited her perfectly, showing off a bit of her seductive side. A white, lacy headband sat among her dark tresses, and a black choker wrapped around her delicate neck. Although she was a bit of a klutz in the high heels, once dancing, her feet easily glided across the dance floor. Of course, it was only then that he noticed the teddy bear dancing with the love of his love. Jealous he kept glaring at the large brown teddy furiously, his dance partner wondering what she had done to upset him.

He continued to let his mind wander, he found her shyness and blushing making him fall head over heels for her, especially since she was not one of his ever-obsessive fangirls. The costume she was wearing accented her usually hidden curves and emphasized her beautiful figure. His heart raced as they switched partners and he ended up with Hinata. Deciding to try his luck, Sasuke started a conversation between them, finding that his nervousness had evaporated.

As the song came to an end, he thanked Hinata for the dance, and started to move away, satisfied with dancing with her just once. He felt what he guessed was Hinata tugging on his costume and quickly turned around, only to find that she had fell forward. With a speed that Sasuke did not know of himself, he slid beneath Hinata to catch her, but he ended up only cushioning her fall. His back came in contact with the hard marble floor, but his dinosaur costume softened his fall and Hinata was not at all heavy so Sasuke did not mind having the delicate angel in his arms.

There was a pause in the flow of time, where they recognized and acknowledged each other, but then the moment diminished. The tranquility was broken. Sasuke quickly helped Hinata up; their quickly pared from each other as Neji, her overprotective cousin, rushed over. Sasuke turned back once, only to find Hinata's eyes locked onto his as he increased the distance between them. He hurriedly left the party without even speaking to Naruto or Lee. He simply vanished.

Sasuke could hear his heart beating rapidly, not just from running. He paused, putting his hand along the wall to catch his breath, but then heard someone's footsteps. He quickly stepped on the ledge and pushed himself over the wall, only to come face to face with a teddy bear, a very angry teddy bear...

"Where do you think you're running off to?" the teddy, otherwise known as Gaara, asked suspiciously.

"Ah! You're just the person I was looking for! You see, I found this soft and cuddly tan-colored teddy bear just thrown to the side of the road. It looked in perfectly fine, but some selfish child probably did not want it." Sasuke sighed and then continued, "It even had just the cutest smile stitched on its face...and a little red bow around its neck...and its eyes were big, round marbles that seemed to give the teddy bear life. I could not take the poor thing home because my dog would have chewed it up and I did not want that to happen to the little teddy bear." He paused and then continued, "It made me think of you and I thought you might want to go pick it up before the street cleaners come tonight." He spared a glance toward Gaara.

Sasuke swore he heard just the slightest sniffle from behind the paw that was covering the teddy's face. Gaara turned around and ran off to find the lost teddy bear, and Sasuke saw just the slightest sparkle from a single tear. Once Gaara was properly out of sight Sasuke released a heavy sigh, glad he was still alive. Of course, he quickly remembered that if Gaara ever found him again, he would be dead in less than a second so he continued to run through what seemed like someone else's garden. Sasuke had unconsciously wandered into the Hatake's garden and he quickly climbed up into a leafy tree to hide from the various guards. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, Hinata was so embarrassed by the incident that she had already retired to her bedroom. Taking a few moments to observe his surroundings, he found a window where the lights were shut off. He assumed that someone was already in bed and that it would be a perfect place to hide for the moment. Sneaking along a branch of the tree, he opened the window and slipped into the darkness.

* * *

Completely overwhelmed by the fact that she had reached out to Sasuke and caused the both of them to fall, Hinata hastily left the ballroom and shut herself in her room. Her heart raced, her mind was dizzy, and she was quite tired. Hinata fell onto her comfy bed to get a good night's rest and rapidly fell into the world of sleep.

Hinata had the most wonderful dream that night. Her curtains rose and fell similar to her breathing, except there was a figure behind it. Just when Hinata wanted to step out of bed to greet the person, the mysterious figure stepped towards her bed, the moonlight shining on him. The shadows lightened to reveal Sasuke, the one person that she had boldly conversed with and danced with. Blushing, Hinata wanted to turn away, but was too mesmerized by his soft gaze. He reached towards her and gently placed his hand on her pale cheek, and then he vanished along with everything around her.

When Hinata awoke, she slowly blinked the sleep away, recalling her astonishing dream. She shivered, feeling a light breeze coming from her right where her window had been left open. Walking over to close them, Hinata realized that they were billowing the exact way that they had been in her dream. Her eyes searched everywhere outside to find him, even the smallest sign would be enough to satisfy her. Saddened by her own imagination, she turned back to her bed, but found a small, but beautiful flower with a note attached.

She read the short note aloud, "From Sasuke."


	6. Rendezvous

Disclaimer: If we owned Naruto, there would be no logical plot to it. And all filler episodes would contain various photos of Itachi and Gaara.

Narika's Note: Yay! An update! You guys are just the best, most patient people in world!

Baka's Note: Whee.

* * *

**Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)**  
By Narika & Baka

* * *

Chapter Six – Rendezvous

* * *

Hinata clutched the scrap of paper, excitement bubbling and brewing as she hurriedly got dressed. In her astonishment, she did not realize that the note had real content written on the other side until she held it up to the light in admiration and noticed the text on the other side. She read it quickly, anxious to find out what he had to say to her, but instead found a place and time written down. Realizing that it would be a similar to a secret rendezvous, she simply could not contain her anxiety. Her nurse, Orochimaru, came in to help her dress. 

"Are you alright? You seem feverish or something..." her nurse said, observing her reaction.

"EH? It's n-n-nothing really! I-I'm fine!" she stuttered.

Orochimaru didn't believe her. "Are you sure?"

"Hai! Maybe I accidentally had some alcohol at the party last night. I mean, I felt pretty dizzy before bed. Or maybe it's just because I left my window open...Maybe I caught a small cold or—"

"Okay, okay! Hush now." Orochimaru replied, not wanting to hear any more. He should've known not to cause Hinata to worry about herself. She'd always ramble on and on about all the horrid possibilities and eventually talk herself into believing that something was truly wrong.

At breakfast, Kurenai and Kakashi questioned her as well, playing the part of concerned parents, but she kept saying she was alright and that she'd go for a walk to refresh her mind. She claimed that the walk would do her some good and she'd be gone for a while, reminding her parents not to worry. Her parents readily agreed that a walk would do her some good, completely unsuspecting of Hinata's little rendezvous she planned to attend. Orochimaru, after being Hinata's nurse for quite a long time, assumed that Hinata was hiding something, so after Hinata left, Orochimaru made up an errand to do and followed Hinata closely.

The task proved difficult of course since Hinata didn't seem to have a particular place to go to. She wandered aimlessly from one end of town to the other. Orochimaru found it for the most part odd, but he kept following her anyways, even though he started to tire. Hinata ended up sitting down at the edge of the docks, splashing water with her delicate feet. Just as he felt like heading back to the Hatake house, Hinata suddenly stood up, slipped into her sandals, and ran off in a random direction. Puzzled, Orochimaru made up his mind and continued following her.

Hinata had spotted Sasuke across the river and quickly followed him back to town. She was sure that someone was following them, but she didn't think that the person noticed Sasuke yet. She was standing outside of their rendezvous point, but she mouthed to him that someone was following. She took a moment to calm her nerves and then proceeded to make lots of loops and turns to lose the follower.

Orochimaru thought that Hinata had lost her mind, or something along those lines. He was getting old so he could not keep up with her, but he took notice of a certain someone in the area. The hairstyle was just too eye-catching and Orochimaru already had taken notice of the boy before and how Hinata reacted towards him. Maybe Hinata saw this guy in the shop and her mind just went into that weird reaction mode where she would turn incredibly paranoid. He decided not to pursue her anymore since he was too tired to anyways.

Hinata stopped outside the ramen shop to catch her breath before going in. She sat down beside Sasuke and was pleasantly surprised to see a bowl of her favorite noodles already set out for her. Their lunch was a quiet one; they dare not exchange words in the shop. After lunch however, they went out for a walk around the outskirts of town while making some small talk.

"...That dinosaur costume looks good on you." Hinata said for a start.

Sasuke, eyes wide, said back, "That better not be what you'll think of every time my name is mentioned." Sounding concerned about his self image, Sasuke asked, "No one took pictures, did they?"

Hinata laughed lightly and said that she was sure that no one noticed who the man in the dinosaur costume really was. Sasuke turned their conversation elsewhere, and they took turns talking about their likes and dislikes.

"That reminds me...how did you know what my favorite ramen was?"

"I didn't. I just took a wild guess." Sasuke replied with a gentle smile. He lifted his hand to her head, ran it through her silky hair, and was going to lean towards her but—

"Hinata! Why are you with _him?"_ her cousin Neji exclaimed upon seeing them together.

Sasuke immediately got defensive, seeing as how he was just insulted.

"Do you even know me? It's not right to insult someone without knowing them first."

"I know that your parents have not been the greatest of people."

"And you'll judge me through the actions of my parents?"

Sasuke and Neji were drawing dangerously close to each other, glaring daggers at each other.

"Please stop, Neji! Sasuke isn't a bad person!" Hinata said, trying to sound confident against her cousin.

"Hinata! How can you say that? Do have any idea of wha—"

Hinata stepped in between Sasuke and her cousin, holding her arms out. "Neji," she said, "Please don't say that! I—"

"Don't tell me that you like him...That you'll associate yourself with him!" Neji shouted, grabbing Hinata's arm, trying to pull her out of the way.

Sasuke freed Hinata's arm, holding her close. "You're suggesting that I'm scum and you aren't? No one hurts their own kin except those lower than dirt!"

The feeling of Sasuke's arm around her was comforting, but Hinata held her breath at seeing Neji's stance change. Sasuke, realizing that Hinata would get hurt if she stayed with him, gently lowered Hinata to the ground and sped toward Neji.

"STOP!" Hinata screamed, but to no avail. "Please, stop! Don't do this!" she cried out.

Both of them did not hear her pleads, slashing and deflecting each other's attacks, Neji and Sasuke's kunai clashed, the sound echoing to the sharp ears of the fellow household members.

Naruto heard the sound loud and clear, rushing to the scene along with Lee, Chouji, and Shino. Tenten, Shikamaru, and Kiba had felt a weird sensation and opted to check it out, finding Neji engaged in a fierce fight with none other than Sasuke. Upon seeing Lee Chouji, and Shino, they sped into action, throwing insults as well as kunai.

Unluckily for Neji, Naruto, being the troublemaker that he was, accidentally tripped him, just as Sasuke threw a well-aimed shuriken. It came towards him and he was unable to move out the way or block it in time, so the shuriken grazed his shoulder, tearing his sleeve and exposing blood.

Hinata gasped in horror, for Prince Kazekage had been doing his routine walks around town and had heard the noise from the fight. Tenten rushed to Neji's side to inspect the wound as Kiba and Shikamaru stopped in their tracks. Naruto urged Chouji, Shino, and Lee to run for it while they could, shouting that they weren't involved with wounding Neji, knowing Prince Kazekage would execute punishments if, and only if, they lingered.

Neji had thrown a least minute kunai at Sasuke, who was in shock of seeing the blood dripping so quickly, knowing it was desperate, but well worth a try. Hinata saw the kunai before Sasuke did and ran over, pushing Sasuke out of the way, the kunai just grazing the hem of her kimono as she fell on top of him. Neji fell to his knees, seeing his cousin protecting Sasuke, and feeling the pain, saw the world becoming a blur.

"Hurry Sasuke! Leave before Prince Kazekage finds out you did it! He angers easily but cools down with time. You must leave or else you'll get seriously hurt!" Hinata said, clutching his shirt, hands trembling.

"No, how can I ever forgive myself for hurting your cousin? Even if he said hurtful things, he was still your cousin. I should stay and receive the punishment I deserve."

"Please, leave. It'll break my heart to see you punished. You don't deserve it, and Neji was wrong to say those hurtful words. Do this for me. You might not live if you stay. How could I ever live with myself knowing that my cousin was the cause of your death?"

Galloping was grower ever closer, announcing the prince's looming presence.

"Then I'll hide at the priest's before I leave. Come find me tonight so that we may properly bid goodbye." Sasuke replied, not wanting to leave town—not after he had finally found a love. He embraced her before taking off in a sprint into the surrounding forest, just as the Prince finally arrived at the scene.

* * *

Reviews are love so shower me with lots of love! xD  



	7. Slums of Suna

Disclaimer: Don't sue us if you're shocked by the results of the paternity test...Just kidding! Sheesh!

Narika's Note: Okay...so it gets sappy from here on, but new characters come into play as well.

Baka's Note: Whee.

* * *

Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)  
By Narika & Baka

* * *

Chapter Seven – The Slums of Suna

* * *

Night had fallen. Hinata was almost at the church now, eagerly wishing to see Sasuke before he left town. She usually visited Friar Jiraiya's church often to see how his disciples were doing and help out with a few chores so it wouldn't be unusual at all if Hinata were to leave for the church all of a sudden. 

"I love you and I promise to convince Prince Kazekage to let you come back! I miss you so much already." Hinata mumbled into Sasuke's shirt. She never wanted to let go of the most trusted friend she ever had, but she knew it was necessary.

"Take care of yourself, Hinata."

She felt his shirt moving away, but it ended up in her arms.

"Keep it," he whispered as he put on another shirt. He fingered the waistband of his shorts.

She blushed and quickly turned away, saying that he should've told her he was going to change, but he simply replied with something perverse.

"Sasuke!" Hinata gasped, blushing furiously.

"Sorry, I blame Friar Jiraiya for influencing me," he said with a sheepish grin and kissed her cheek.

In the dark of the night, Sasuke left the city, taking roads that would lead him towards the edge of town. The worst part was that with each step away from the city, he was moving towards the slums. Many nasty people dwelled in the shadows of the slums, waiting for prey to fall into their traps.

"Yo! Itachi! Aren't you supposed to be at the meeting place?" someone shouted to Sasuke.

Confused, he turned around to see a blond-haired person wearing a large overcoat. Trouble indeed.

* * *

In the sandy land of Suna, many varieties of individuals resided in the towns and cities within the desert. Every city has its bad parts though, and Suna was no different. In the far corner of Suna, also known as the slums of Suna, there was a murky street with sinister shadows. No sunlight ever reached that far spot of the earth, and the ones living there preferred it that way. They liked doing their jobs in the dark, among other things. 

Whistling cheerfully, the truck driver turned the corner; completely unaware of the street he had just turned onto. The navigator he had specifically installed for the trips to the edge of Suna had told him to turn here, so he obviously wasn't going to go anywhere but down the shadowy street for fear of getting lost. No matter what, though, his trusty navigator would always tell him which way to go, so it didn't really matter if he got lost or not because he would never get lost anyways.

Anyways, the truck driver was completely unaware that the street he had turned onto was the street famed for being the spot where people and all their belongings ever disappeared. He continued his mindless whistling only to screech the truck to a noisy halt upon spotting a person lying in the middle of the road. He quickly got out of the truck, hoping that the person was alive. After walking closer, he could hear snoring coming from the person and automatically assumed the man must've been drunk and fell asleep in the road. Suddenly, the person stirred as if the truck driver had woken him. The truck driver asked if the man was fine, so he did not notice that someone had snuck into his truck until the engine revved.

"HEADS UP!" yelled Kisame. "I MEAN, HEADS DOWN!" he added with a menacing laugh. The truck driver stared in horror as the truck sped towards him and the man on the ground. Just as the truck neared him and the truck driver thought he was definitely going to die, the man on the ground pulled him flat on the ground and the truck went right over them, the wheels marking the ground on each side of them.

Kisame laughed wildly as he drove away, the tires screeching as he rounded the corner and vanished into the shadows.

"That idiot," Itachi said while yawning. He pushed himself up and walked off in the same direction that the truck had sped off in, vanishing in the shadows as well.

The truck driver was completely dazed at the horror of it all. "Shit, my navigator..." he said wearily and fainted in the middle of the road.

* * *

"Kisame, where's Itachi?"  
"He's coming. I drove here."  
"You're licensed to drive?"  
"Nope."  
"Oh..."  
A whisper. "I can see why Itachi chose to walk."  
"HEY! I heard that you know!"  
"Don't get so excited. You'll knock over my tower of chips."  
"What? Those chips are mine!"  
"They're mine now. If you don't watch them, you lose them."  
"What kind of a stupid saying is that!"  
"SHUT UP AND STOP ARGUING! It's your turn Kisame."  
"Oh, sorry."  
"Whatever! Just go!"  
"I fold. It's not like I have any chips now anyways."  
A snicker. "Looks like I win again."  
"Oh yea? I've got two pairs. Beat that."  
"Well I have a royal flush." 

Everyone groaned and threw down their cards as Sasori laughed and collected the mountain of money at the center of the table.

"I've lost enough. He's always winning!"  
"I BET HE'S CHEATING!"  
"What! Watch who you're accusing! How could I possibly cheat?"  
"Your puppets are watching what the rest of us get, aren't they?"  
"No they're not! They're all stored away."  
Someone slammed the table in frustration.  
"HEY! YOU KNOCKED DOWN MY TOWER OF CHIPS!"  
"Sorry."  
Someone snorted. "No you're not."  
"Yes I am."  
"No."  
"Yes."  
"No."  
"Yes."  
"No."  
"No."  
"Yes."  
"HA!"  
"Damn it."

And at that moment, Itachi came in and saw the mess that the other members of Akatsuki had made.

"Over already? I was hoping to win some today."  
"Sasori won all of it. AGAIN."  
"Hey, I didn't cheat!"  
"Let's play something that doesn't bet money then."  
"..."  
"How about Slapjack? Or Spit?"  
"EW! NOT SPIT!"  
"Okay, then Slapjack."  
"Did you say Blackjack?"  
"No, I said Slapjack."  
"But let's play Blackjack!"  
"I thought we were playing something without gambling."  
"I thought we all wanted to play something with gambling."  
"Whatever. Shuffle and deal."

The cards were shuffled as Itachi pulled up a chair and counted out the chips. Kisame got up to grab a few drinks and restore their supplies of snacks when he realized that the reason why they were so bored was because Deidara wasn't present.

"Anyone know where Deidara went?"  
The cards were dealt.  
"Didn't we send him shopping?"  
"Did we? I told him to bring a few girls back."  
"I thought I told him to get us some more drinks."  
"Isn't he still asleep?"  
"Maybe he blew himself up. He does that a lot."  
The door creaked open.  
"Maybe that's him!"

Deidara entered while escorting Sasuke who was thought to be Itachi with amnesia. Everyone dropped their cards and stared at the uncanny resemblance. Deidara stared back and forth at Itachi and Sasuke, realizing that the guy he brought back wasn't Itachi and that he had led some random stranger that looked incredibly similar to Itachi back to the Akatsuki lair that no one was supposed to know about.

Sasuke looked up and down, taking in his surroundings and then focusing on the person that he was mistaken for. He looked dangerous with that pitch-black hair and piercing eyes. He would really be dangerous if it weren't for the fact that all of these men in black and red trench coats were sitting at a round table playing cards with snacks thrown about the table along with their cards and chips. Empty bottles littered the floor and elegant but plastic glasses were filled with funky-colored concoctions. The place had different sets of furniture, chairs, and lights—all of which were obviously stolen or they all had a demented sense of style. The dark walls had no decorations whatsoever except for the occasional mark of a spilt drink or a random splash of red paint. The place was basically the coolest basement party in Sasuke's opinion. Compared to the elegance of the party at the Maito house, the Akatsuki lair was the extreme, rocked out version.

Itachi broke the silence, "Sasuke, right?"

"Yea...How do you know my name?"

"I'm your brother."

_I HAVE A BROTHER!_ Tsunade and Gai were the oddest couple around, and everyone had always wondered how they could produce a child that was so much unlike either of them, but another one! How could his mother never tell him that he had an awesome brother who looked so much like him and probably had the same personality as him? Sasuke decided he wanted to find out more about his brother that he had never met.

"How come okaa-san never told me about you?"

"Okaa-san and otou-san left on an important mission and never came back so we were put in foster care. I lived with otou-san so you never knew about me anyways."

This phrase struck Sasuke hard. _Tsunade and Gai aren't my parents? They must've kidnapped me or something!_ With this thought in mind, Sasuke pulled up a chair and chatted long into the night with his older brother while getting to know the others and playing Blackjack...while eventually became poker anyways.

After only a few weeks, Sasuke adopted the carefree life that his brother had, and wrote a letter to Hinata, describing how he was doing. He had trouble finding someone to mail it, but eventually caught someone heading to the city and sent it.

Hinata was more than worried about how he was doing, but occupied with many suitors that sought her hand because of her loveliness at the party. She kindly turned them down and kept to herself, constantly forming plans in her mind to convince Prince Kazekage to let Sasuke back. She was overjoyed when she was given a letter while walking to Friar Jiraiya's church to ask of news of Sasuke. She rushed to the church garden for privacy, fumbled with the envelope, and read the letter's written secrets.


	8. Becoming An Assisstant

Baka's Note: Did you know that S&H is a year old now?

Narika's Note: Wow, I can't believe it's been that long! We're only on Chapter 8 and there's still around 50 more I plan on writing. Thank you everyone for your support!

* * *

Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)  
By Narika & Baka

* * *

Chapter Eight – Becoming an Assisstant (Haku)

* * *

Hinata sat down on a bench, checking more times than necessary for anyone around, and then opened the envelope to read the letter. Seeing that it was in Sasuke's handwriting and a nice, lengthy letter, she felt relieved that he was doing okay. She was surprised when he mentioned his brother that he was staying with. You'd think that Tsunade would only have one child since she was married to a very unattractive Maito Gai. She was lucky Sasuke turned out so nice, but when the other relatives came, like Lee, she must've quickly realized that it was her sheer amount of luck to have a kid without shiny black hair and fuzzy eyebrows. But then her mind came to a shocking conclusion—Tsunade and Gai were not Sasuke's real parents.

* * *

Sasuke felt completely at ease with the Akatsuki members, especially since no one within a certain perimeter would try anything to defy them. Sasuke was safe from the Prince's eyes, and he could also do whatever he felt like doing—an opportunity he hadn't had since birth. His parents always set limits and restrictions (not that they followed through with them), and also made sure he didn't leave the city at any time. He was never allowed to visit the poorer sides of town, and he could only find solace at Friar Jiraiya's place where he learned about the plants in the garden, monk scriptures, and various other things. 

He was interested in what his brother did for a living seeing as how Itachi and his friends had ample amounts of money, food, drinks, and couches. Itachi simply told Sasuke that they dealt with purchasing and resale, like Costco. Sasuke nodded in understanding, labeling his brother as a businessman of sorts, except that Itachi and the rest of Akatsuki actually dealt drugs, weapons, and stolen/discarded items they happened to have in their possession. In fact, the place where they were staying currently was only one of many locations around the edge of Suna. A trip was planned for the following day to the best location, which was an abandoned hot spring resort. No one knew why the hell anyone would want to abandon a hot spring resort, but apparently Akatsuki had arrived at the right place at the right time so they stabbed a flag in the ground outside and claimed the hot spring resort as theirs. Besides getting a free hotel, they also got the fluffiest bath towels, best-smelling soaps and shampoos, an excessive amount of hairbrushes (which they sold in order to buy yet another couch), and not to mention a bunch of extra tatami doors.

As soon as Sasuke entered the gates of the Akatsuki resort, he was amazed by the sheer sparkliness and cleanliness that seemed to glow from the entire building. Besides a well-manicured garden complete with small rivers and a freshwater pond, there were smooth stepping stones, healthy green shrubbery, golden-colored fish, and a flock of geese honking. He was too preoccupied in observing the surroundings that he ran right into a clothesline, knocking over the petite figure who was hanging up the newly-washed, signature Akatsuki coats. The person was holding quite a few pointy needles which happened to end up in Sasuke's butt. Unfortunately for Sasuke, the needles were dipped in a tranquilizing liquid, and he fell unconscious as a beautiful figure was being reprimanded by his older brother.

"You didn't warn me that there'd be a guest! How else was I supposed to react when he slammed right into me?"

"There was no need to tranquilize him."

"His reflexes are scary as usual."

"Why the hell did you have tranquilizing needles in your hair anyways?"

"Because I was going to tranquilize any misbehaving little critters that dared to touch my laundry!"

"..."

"Haku, you're such a mean bastard."

"Watch who you're calling bastard, bastard."

"Haku, fetch me the list of our newest shipment, and Kisame, don't call my assistant a bastard."

"But!"

"Shut up before I throw you into the lake with the piranhas, Fish-food," said Deidara.

"Who's going to be fish food?" Sasuke asked, waking up to the most interesting conversation.

Itachi replied, "No one," while shooting a look at Deidara.

Haku came back with a heavy book and dropped it on the convenient podium by the door and flipped open to page and read off the stats. Immediately, everyone listened to the numbers and percentages (or at least pretended to) and they took a quick vote on what to buy this month.

Sasuke found himself staring at the girl who had knocked him out earlier. She had lengthy dark hair, delicately pale skin, long lashes, a silky kimono, sandals, and the same color nail polish as his older brother. Her voice was sweet and melodious as she informed Itachi, who was looking over her shoulder at the numbers, of every little thing at the resort, including how the gardener and his assistant had overfed his weasel. The girl looked up at Itachi after finishing her spiel and waited for a response.

"You've taken good care of this place, Haku, so we'll spend a bit of our extra cash on whatever you want."

"Nii-san, you're so nice to your girlfriend."

Everyone stared and then burst out into thunderous laughter while Itachi coolly explained to his brother about Haku.

"Sasuke, Haku is my assistant and he is a crossdresser," Itachi said with a that's-the-story look.

"But he looks really pretty, like prettier than most girls! How could a guy possibly be that beautiful!"

"Haku happened to inherit the majority of his genes from his mother. That's all."

Meanwhile, Haku looked about ready to kill Sasuke for saying that he was Itachi's girlfriend. Haku already loved someone else, and was far from becoming a part of the dreadful Uchiha family. His personal opinion was that Itachi was in no way responsible and Sasuke was obviously living a sheltered life if he thought that his brother was living a normal life with a girlfriend.

* * *

Haku and Sasuke ended up bathing together at the hot spring in silence due to Sasuke's unfortunate mix up earlier. Something festered in the back of his mind so Sasuke asked Haku aloud. 

"How did you meet my brother?"

Haku looked down at the water, reminiscing before revealing his answer to Sasuke.

"I was horrible at controlling my anger when I was little, so I accidentally killed my parents. I felt extremely depressed because I did it unknowingly, like it didn't register in my mind, and I was only five or six years old then. People booted me out of my house, and I was forced to live in poverty on the streets in the slums of Suna. I stole food and other things, which I sold for food or money, so that I could survive. One day, a man named Zabuza brought me to his place and took care of me for a bit, but was arrested for some crime that I didn't know of. I returned to the streets once again and found myself stealing things again. I'm quite talented with using acupuncture needles to fight so I targeted stealing larger things. I met your brother one night when I was stealing an armchair, and he basically recruited me for my skills. I'm now the manager of this hot spring."

Sasuke rubbed his neck, thinking about how Haku had swiftly stabbed a tranquilizing needle into him. That was some scary skill.

"What is there to manage here at the hot spring?"

"Lots of things. When the Akatsuki members aren't staying here, I run this resort for people to come and stay. There are workers working here when Akatsuki isn't here and when Akatsuki stays here, the workers get a vacation. I organize the things that Itachi stores here too."

"Hn." Sasuke replied, ending the conversation as he relaxed to the tune of crickets and running water.

* * *

_Dearest Hinata,_

_I'm staying at a hot spring of my brother's right now. He's a great businessman, acquiring many rundown places and fixing them up. He mostly focuses on resale, but his income is enough for maintaining the places he owns (along with his friends). I heard an interesting story of a particular person's life, and I realized that I've definitely had it easy compared to her--I mean, him. I'm content to keep in correspondence with you, and I don't mind being banished for the time being. It's led me to meet my brother and learn many new things, but I don't get to see you anymore. That doesn't matter though...You're still engraved in my mind and I'll never forget your warm smile. Please don't hesitate to write back and tell me about everything going on in the city._

_I miss you._

_Love,  
Sasuke

* * *

_

-

Reviews? Please? Don't force me to resort to puppy eyes!


	9. The Shirt Dealer

Baka's Note: Meh.  
Narika's Note: Poor Sasuke has no clue what his brother and his pals are actually doing for a living…

* * *

**Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)**

_By Narika & Baka_

* * *

Chapter Nine – The Shirt Dealer

* * *

"Sasu-chan! Come help me with dinner!" Haku called. 

Sasuke growled in response and dropped the rag he had been using to clean the coffee table. Sasuke took a liking to the glass coffee table with the fish tank underneath, but some idiot just had to start a fingerpainting war in the living room and since no one else would clean it, Sasuke decided to, for the sake of the coffee table. During his stay, Sasuke asked if he could have one of the various houses that Akatsuki owned for himself. He planned to use it as a hideaway for the rest of his banishment and, if Hinata would agree, she could live with him there. He hid this from Hinata in his last letter, hoping to surprise her when they finally get to see each other again. In exchange for the house, Itachi appointed Sasuke a position as Haku's assistant. Haku made Sasuke help out with all the chores around the resort, often making Sasuke clean the wooden floors until they were positively beaming with sparkles and mowing the grass around the springs and gardens so that the zen of the garden would not be disturbed. No matter how excruciatingly humiliating the task was (such as cleaning the bathrooms from ceiling to floor), Sasuke sucked it up for the sake of his beautiful Hinata. Unfortunately, his brother and the other members of Akatsuki took to habit calling him "Sasu-chan." Haku started it because he was mad at Sasuke for thinking that Haku was Itachi's girlfriend, and Sasuke had to get used to it.

* * *

... 

"His brother calls him Sasu-chan!"

Hinata nodded and winced as Jiraiya burst into an uncontrollable fit of earsplitting laughter. She had no one else she could trust to confide what Sasuke wrote to her, so sadly, she could only go to the monastary. It was at that moment that Jiraiya's disciples came in from their morning chores, and Moegi rolled her eyes at Jiraiya and led Hinata outside. Hinata and Moegi formed a relationship from gathering herbs and flowers from the garden while Hinata told Moegi about Sasuke. Meogi always squealed and shrieked that Hinata was so lucky to be in love with such a great guy, causing Hinata to blush quite a bit. With Moegi, they would make up elaborate designs for the wedding and house and figure out names for kids. Hinata never talked much to her nurse about these sorts of things and always enjoyed the time she spent with Moegi. Luckily, Moegi saved her ears from bleeding by bringing her out to the garden for a chat about the most recent letter.

"HINATA!" Orochimaru called out. "Gosh, I was looking all over for you!"

"Eh? Why? Is it urgent?" Hinata asked turning pale.

"Your mother insists you get home immediately, get dressed in something nice, and then go to the courtyard for a picnic."

Hinata blinked. "A picnic is urgent?"

"Gaara will be there and he's your best bet in swaying Prince Kazakage to let Sasuke come back. Hurry, Hinata!"

* * *

... 

"Sasu-chan! Get the door!"

Confused, Sasuke shouted to Haku, "WHICH DOOR?"

"The back one!"

"ARGH! WHICH SIDE IS THE BACK!"

"STORAGE! STORAGE IS BACK!"

"YOU COULD'VE JUST SAID THE STORAGE ROOM'S BACK DOOR AND SAVED ME FROM AN EXTRA TEN WORDS OR SO!"

"JUST GET IT ALREADY! The person should be here about now."

"WHAT PERSON!"

No response.

Sighing heavily, Sasuke ran to the supposed back of the resort and cautiously opened the door to the storage area for fear of objects tumbling out. There were no objects crashing down but instead neat rows of shelves and boxes in the enormous storage room. Not to mention quite a few more living room sets with fluffy couches and delicate tables. And a red carpet that led to what he supposed would be the back door. Interesting.

He followed the path of carpet down rows and rows of interesting objects. There were stacks of scrolls, a mountain of bathing products (which even included rubber ducks), a whole other mountain of lemon-scented cleaning products, hundreds of cookbooks, chalkboards, a few animal cages, a mountain of tires, spare car parts, a collection of swords and guns, and a stack of dirty magazines piled in one corner. Of course there were more things on the shelves that he didn't even want to know what they were. He swore he saw a jar of eyeballs labeled as wine. What jackass was smart enough to write that? Still, he vowed to never drink anymore alcohol ever again.

He finally reached the door and opened it. Nobody was there. He slammed it angrily.

"HAKU! JUST WHAT KIND OF FREAKING JOKE IS THIS!"

"Excuse me…"

"I MEAN, WHAT THE HELL! SENDING ME ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE FREAKIN' PLACE TO OPEN THE FRICKIN' DOOR AND—"

"YO KID!"

Sasuke stopped mid-rant and looked for the source of the voice.

"Down here."

And he looked down to see a small frog wearing a jacket and holding a clipboard.

"Ahem, I'm Gamabunta," the frog said while handing Sasuke the clipboard, "I brought the new shipment of shirts over. If you could kindly open the door I'll have my brother bring it in and we'll just put it in the usual place."

"Umm…okay, then."

"Sign here." Gamabunta said, while handing him the clipboard.

"Do I have to pay you?"

"No, everything's already been paid for, but a nice froggy treat from the first drawer on the right of the desk would be nice."

Sauske opened the drawer and sure enough there were lilypad-shaped things that looked like doggy treats.

Sasuke went back to the front of the house where Haku was sipping tea and taking in the scenery. He told Haku about Gamabunta and how the shipment of shirts had been received. Haku freaked out. Haku told him that the whole reason why they had red carpet was for Gamabunta because he was the boss of the frog population in the neighboring country. Haku continued to say that to displease Gamabunta of the t-shirt business would mean no more shirts for Akatsuki members and how the rabid fangirls would be attacking everyone like crazy. Moments later while washing the floorboards for the THIRD time that day, Sasuke still didn't see why the puny, not to mention slimy frog deserved ANY red carpet.

* * *

... 

Hinata fidgeted in the frilly light blue dress she was forced to wear. Kurenai was still making small talk with Gaara as Kakashi continued to read the morning paper. Gaara kept looking in her direction while chatting politely with her mother. Orochimaru finally decided to take the things out of the picnic basket and poured Hinata a cup of tea. Because it was too hot when she took it, Hinata spilled it on Gaara. It was completely accidental. Really.

Hinata winced at the glare from her mother and the did-something-happen stare that Kakashi directed towards her and wished that the picnic basket would just eat her up. She quickly took the handkerchief that Orochimaru handed her and tried to dry Gaara's clothes while apologizing profusely. He simply shrugged it away. After they finished eating the small sandwiches, Hinata finally gathered up the courage to ask Gaara about talking to Prince Kazekage.

"Gaara-san, will you talk to Prince Kazekage for me?"

"About Sasuke?"

"Yea…"

"I'm waiting until he cools down a bit more. Then I'll try to convince him to end Sasuke's banishment."

"You'll help me?" _Even though you proposed to me the other day?_

"Of course. If it makes you happy, I'll settle for it."

Hinata let out a breath of relief and thanked him sincerely with a smile.

* * *

... 

Since Sasuke was still a bit childish, he told Itachi about how he slaved away and had to go all the way to the back door to let in a puny frog named Gamabunta who he was supposed to have been ultra polite with and let him in on the clean, sparkly red carpet. Itachi laughed in his face.

"Sasuke, you really are dumb sometimes."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke glared.

"That frog was Gamakichi, Gamabunta's son."

"Oh."

"I can't believe you were fooled by a frog."

"…Shut up."

* * *

... 

-prays for reviews-


	10. Insanity

**Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)**  
By Narika & Baka

* * *

Chapter Ten – Insanity

* * *

Gaara tapped his fingers impatiently. _What to do? What to do?_ He had promised Hinata to talk with Prince Kazekage, but the man had left for the Snow Country for a two-week vacation. How was he supposed face Hinata now? Of course lying was one option but it was incredibly hard to lie to that innocent, hopeful face.

"Gaara."

"What?" he replied turning around to face his butler with a frightening face.

Kankuro gulped and muttered a "Nevermind!" and slammed the door shut.

Gaara let out a huge sigh just as his maid came in with a feather duster. Temari ushered him out of the room claiming that it was cleaning time, closing the door in his face.

Gaara meandered down the hall to find some isolated corner where no one would disturb his thoughts.

* * *

...

Hinata sneezed. Orochimaru had pulled the blankets off of her and threw open the window.

"Nurse?" she moaned, "Isn't it still early?"

"You've overslept dear. It's just cloudy out today so it seems like later in the day. Hurry up and get dressed for church."

"EH?! I missed church!"

"No…"

"Oh. Good..."

"There's about five minutes before you will miss it though."

* * *

...

"Oi Sasu-chan!" Haku shouted, pushing Sasuke off the bed.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Watch your language! Get ready for church!"

"Church? Since when did everyone here go to church?"

"Since Hidan came back."

"Who's Hidan?"

Moments later, Akatsuki gathered in the tea ceremony room at the resort as Hidan preached about the laws of suffering, or something along those lines. Sasuke kept glancing around the room, only to find there was no clock and that everyone seemed to be listening intently and taking notes.

Sasuke tried his best to listen and then he spotted something peculiar by Haku's feet. _Was that a frog?_ All of a sudden it hit Sasuke—it was that demanding puny little frog from the previous day. He lunged for the Gamakichi and growled threateningly, "You…tricked me."

"Now that is a prime example of law number two – never let anyone get away with anything." Hidan stated excitedly. "Now Sasu-chan, continue yelling at him and then throw him out of the room."

Sasuke, dropped the frog and left the room. He was going to end up in an insane asylum if he continued living with his brother and his friends. Hell, he was already among the insane.

* * *

...

Hinata was horrified by what she read. It sounded like Sasuke's brother and his friends were torturing Sasuke to the fullest extent. Group bubble baths, weird ceremonies for church, and even ordering oddly-colored bath towels. Her poor Sasuke!

She tried her best to keep the horror from showing on her face as Moegi asked her how Sasuke was.

"Moegi! What should I do? Sasu-chan, I mean, Sasuke is being tortured by his brother!"

"EH?"

"That and I really, really miss him and it'd be great if he'd be back for the festival…I want him back!" Hinata concluded.

"Then talk to Gaara. Wasn't he going to help you?"

* * *

...

The clock chimed the hour as a maid brought in tea. Gaara spoke.

"We can go talk to Prince Kazekage together. He's currently in the Snow Country for two weeks, so if you go to find him, it'll show your determination to bring Sasuke back. I suggest we pack our bags warmly and set out as soon as possible or else my uncle might go somewhere else."

* * *

...

The flash of steel sent Sasuke running for his life. Sharp blades taunted him, glimmering whenever light hit at just the right angle, making slicing sounds as the two parts opened and closed. Scissors chased Sasuke across the resort.

"I promise it won't hurt even the slightest bit!"

Sasuke continued running from Deidara. A new obsession had engulfed Deidara's mind, and soon all the people present were chased down to be given haircuts by the overnight amateur.

"No! I am absolutely not cutting my hair!"

"Then at least let me dye it!" Deidara said, "Pink will look great with the bath towels and Akatsuki accessories we ordered!"

"NOOOOO!" Sasuke screamed as Hidan tripped him. Hidan sat on top of Sasuke, who fell on his face, to keep him from escaping.

"Sasuke," Hidan said, "if you do not want Deidara to do anything to your hair, then you'll have to let me paint your nails."

"No way!" Sasuke wriggled free and ran outside. He ran through the maze of bushes, knocking over Haku and the laundry in the process, and then climbed a tree with plenty of leaves to hide himself. He hoped no one would find him until the weird fetishes wore off, which would only be until the next morning anyways.

* * *

...

Hinata nervously held the reins of a white mare as Gaara rode confidently on a black gelding. The Snow Country was not too far, but the snow would impede their speed, so they left the village together at a moderate pace stopping only for meals. The journey was quiet for the most part, but if the scenery became too boring, Hinata and Gaara would converse.

"How much farther is it?"

"If you look to the west, Hinata, you'll see a valley."

Hinata scanned the horizon. "Ah, I see them!"

"The village lies there. Prince Kazekage is staying at a mountain spring resort there so we should be able to find him."

"Let's hurry there then!" Hinata exclaimed, flashing a brilliant smile.

Gaara's heart jumped. _She's so charming without even trying. If only she would look at me like that more often. If only I could see that beautiful smile more often._ They continued down the snowy path to the village where Prince Kazekage was staying.

* * *

...

Sasuke wasn't always a bad kid. Prince Kazekage knew that Sasuke and Gaara were friendly rivals when they were young and they were close to being friends, but then puberty took over. They both withdrew themselves from each other and other people as well, growing farther apart. In short, Sasuke and Gaara used to be friends, or at least merely acquaintances, and Kazekage was thinking about letting Sasuke come back to the village. Then again, someone had threatened to run him over the other day. Someone that looked like Sasuke.

* * *

...

"Achoo!"

"Yo, Itachi! Are you sure you're not coming down with a cold or something?"

"Quite sure," Itachi responded while grabbing another tissue, crumpling it up, and hurling it at Kisame.

Kisame ducked and it hit Sasuke on the back the head.

"Ew! Who threw this at me?" he questioned with a deadly glare.

The room froze and everyone pretended not to hear him. Sasuke had not been sleeping well and, as a result, acted way too emotional, snapping very easily and constantly being in a bad mood. The best course of action for everyone was to simply ignore him until his temper cooled.

* * *

...

Gaara covered Hinata's eyes as he led her around, telling her to watch her step. Wondering what Gaara was up to, Hinata meekly obeyed his directions, and when he let go of her eyes, she was thrilled to see an aesthetic view of a snowy village hidden snugly in a valley between the mountains. They had reached the Snow Country.

* * *

...

"You—you—you, apostate!" Hidan cried for lack of any other word to use.

Sasuke took a moment to even register that Hidan had insulted him. "What?"

Hidan was throwing a tantrum due to Sasuke's inactivity during their religious sessions. A messy fight ensued with books being thrown across the room, crashing through the paper doors and knocking off the scrolls from the walls. The rest of the people present put their hands over their heads, hoping to shield themselves from the onslaught of books and later stationery. Calligraphy brushes brushed past Zetsu's head as a bottle of ink splattered on the wall behind Tobi who tripped on a copy of Icha Icha Paradise and fell onto Kisame. Kisame in turn reached for Itachi's hair to stop himself from falling only to have Itachi's head squash his arm. Itachi deftly dodged a broken splinter of wood from the bookshelf as Deidara took cover behind one of the screen doors.

The fight and the cleanup took a total of four hours. By dinnertime, Sasuke had decided to leave. He met his brother and made some new friends, but it was time to move on. Lingering any longer would be harmful to his health. He packed the few belongings he possessed and left after all the lights were out. However, he did not know that Haku noticed him leaving that night.

* * *

Sasuke followed a followed the river in the back of the resort into a dense forest of towering trees. As he continued through the branches, the air felt colder as if he were slowly ascending a mountain. The ground was moist and snow soon covered the ground lightly. As if answering his thoughts of "When does this damn road end," the rocky path turned to brick-layered and he nearly walked into a billowing flag. It was decorated with speckles of white over light blue and a graceful character was written in the middle. It said, "Snow."

The scene before his eyes was a postcard picture. There were little houses with just the right amount of snow covering their roofs and a soft light seemed to penetrate the whole village. He shivered as he walked towards stands steaming with scrumptious hot food. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a huge wad of money. Sasuke quickly grabbed a handful and stuff it into his pocket while carefully stashing away the rest of his hard-earned cash.

"Steamed meat buns!" called one of the sellers.

"My stomach's growling like crazy. I'll buy five." Sasuke stated.

"These buns are the largest and most delicious steamed meat buns you'll find on the street! Are you sure that's all you want?"

Pshhh, advertising. "Seven then."

Sasuke ate while walking along the interesting village, savoring every bite while taking in the scenery. He finally grew tired and paid for a room at a mountain resort. He figured that since he's not allowed to return to Suna, why not get some good rest and relaxation?

* * *

...

"He's gone." Itachi stated in a monotonous voice.

"He's gone." Sasori repeated.

"He's gone!" Kisame said depressingly.

"THAT FREAKING ASSHOLE LEFT US!" Deidara shouted.

Hidan sobbed tearfully at the thought of never being able to make Sasuke feel real pain.

"Tobi is a good boy."

"SHUT UP!"

All in all, Akatsuki was miserable without Sasu-chan to make fun of. In fact, they were barely sane before they met Sasuke and now they were thinking of where he might've went.

Haku came in from taking down laundry and asked them what was wrong.

"He's gone." Itachi stated in a monotonous voice.

"He's gone." Sasori repeated.

"He's gone!" Kisame said depressingly.

"THAT FREAKING ASSHOLE LEFT US!" Deidara shouted.

Hidan sobbed tearfully at the thought of never being able to make Sasuke feel real pain.

"Tobi is—"

Haku cut him off, "You mean Sasu-chan?"

"YES!"

"Oh. He left when you were all asleep. It looked like he didn't have a clue as to where to go so he followed the trail in the garden.

"Let's bring him back!" they shouted frenzily, punching the air. It seemed that insanity had taken over them.


	11. Snow Angels

Baka's Note: Meh.

Narika's Note: Meh.

* * *

**Sasuke & Hinata (Romeo & Juliet)**

By Narika & Baka

* * *

Chapter Eleven – Snow Angels

* * *

The path was unexpectedly long. Not only did they make the wrong turn three times of the dirt path, they nearly left Haku behind because his pale complexion blended in with the increasingly snowier surroundings. Akatsuki was suffering from what should've been a relatively easy task of following the goddamn dirt path, but…

"DOWN TOBI!" Deidara shouted for the millionth time.

Tobi refused to get down for the millionth plus one time. "But this white stuff is so pretty!"

"It's SNOW you dumbass."

"Tobi wants to play with snow. Tobi is a—"

"IF TOBI IS A GOOD BOY, TOBI WILL GET DOWN!"

"Deidara, I think you're being a bit too harsh on him. He could use some…" Kisame butted in.

"SHUT UP."

Itachi closed his eyes in frustration, thought for a moment and then spoke, "Tobi."

Tobi glanced in Itachi's direction. Itachi continued speaking.

"…if you stop going off the path and climbing into the trees, we can get to the Snow Country's village a lot faster."

"…and?"

"The faster we get there, the faster you can play with MOUNTAINS of snow."

Tobi's eyes (if he had any) lit up in anticipation. He quickly jumped down and rushed down the right path. Deidara was astonished.

"I hate you, Itachi."

...

* * *

Sasuke finished up yet another meat bun, contemplating what he should do. He had booked a room at the hot springs, but he didn't feel like going down to the springs just yet.

He wandered around the streets, stopping at the small shops to find a gift for Hinata. By the time he was at the end of the street, he had little left in his wallet and an armload of things to choose from.

...

* * *

Prince Kazekage stopped short. He was shopping for souvenirs when someone all-too-familiar passed by. He rubbed blinked and rubbed his eyes, and then the person was gone.

Was it simply an illusion?

"My Prince?" Iruka asked.

"It was nothing. Let's keep going."

...

* * *

Gaara scanned the area for any glimpse of Prince Kazekage. "Sorry, Hinata, we should move on."

"Okay," Hinata responded, downtrodden. They were going through the town, hoping to find Prince Kazakage easily, but the multitudes of tourists were an eyesore.

"Let's stop somewhere for a light lunch." Gaara suggested.

They sat down in a nice café where everything was steamed fresh in the hot springs. When their waiter placed their dishes on the table and pulled off the caps, the savory aroma of their meal tickled their noses and made their mouths water.

"Oh! It's absolutely wonderful!" Hinata exclaimed, eyes joyful.

Gaara was relieved that Hinata seemed to like the food as they dug in. They had been walking for a while and she seemed tired, but now her energy seemed replenished.

"Hinata—"

He spotted something that looked strangely like a duck's butt. And no ducks lived in the Snow Country. No, they did not.

"Hinata," he said pleasantly, "Let's try checking out the shopping center now. The Prince may be looking for souvenirs."

He tugged her along lightly, hoping she didn't catch a glimpse of that annoying Sasuke.

...

* * *

"WOW!" Tobi exclaimed. "They have fountains!"

"Those are hot springs, you idiot."

"FOUNTAINS!" Tobi cried out, prancing around the group excitedly.

"You're making us stand out too much, asshole!" Deidara growled.

"Follow the Toby snacks~" Kisame said, shaking a box of treats.

Tobi immediately stopped prancing around and obediently followed Kisame. Itachi was glad at least one person around was competent enough to lure Tobi in the right direction.

"My dear friends," a voice said.

"Ah," Itachi found the source of the voice. "Zetsu. I'm glad you are well. I trust our resort is in good order?"

"Yes, Itachi. However, you did not inform me of your visit. There are quite a few guests at the resort right now."

"That is alright. We'll stay in our usual room. And please find some way to keep Tobi out of the customers' sight."

"Will do." Zetsu replied with a vicious smirk.

Once at the resort, Akatsuki held a group meeting in the baths. Haku placed a sign that read, "The male bath is temporarily closed to change the bathwater. Please come back in an hour. "

"Okay, now that mostly everybody is present…" Itachi didn't want to know where Zetsu had abandoned Tobi. "Let us begin."

Zetsu passed out the information packets. "Our steamed meat bun sales have gone up by 34% after we started mass producing and steaming them in the baths instead of outside. Our souvenirs sales are down because the shop next to us has been giving out snowballs."

Murmurs around the room.

"I'd like to suggest that we offer snow sculptures in retaliation." Deidara suggested. "And after a certain amount of time, it'll all melt anyway. So, we're making a total profit!"

They continued their meeting until Haku called them to the dining room for tea time.

...

* * *

Prince Kazekage forgot why he was so angry lately. The fresh, sandless air must be doing him good. He wanted to go take a bath in the hot spring when he came upon a sign.

"Changing the bathwater?" He decided to go to the front desk and complain.

"Sir, you can use the mixed family bath if you like." Haku said, not even sparing a second glance. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Prince Kazekage sputtered in dismay as he stared at the beauty open-mouthed. How dare she act like that? Toward a customer?

When he turned back to the front desk, there was a nasty-looking guy whose skin was half pale, milky white and the other half pitch black. Even his eyes were different colors.

Zetsu leered, "Can I help you?"

Prince Kazekage screamed bloody murder as he ran to lock himself in his room. When he reached the corridor, he looked for the number. 1308. 1308.

"Sir," Iruka tried to explain, "They won't leave. They were already in the room when I came back to check!"

"Who?" Prince Kazakage asked, turning pale.

"Hello, uncle." Gaara exclaimed cheerfully as the door opened. He didn't expect Prince Kazekage to already look so frazzled.

"Is something the matter?" Hinata asked. "You don't look well, sir."

"Nothing. How did you—nevermind." He sat down and had a huge gulp of tea. "Why have you come looking for me here?"

"Well," Hinata started, "I was hoping that you could pardon Sasuke and end his banishment early. He's young and stupid, but he deserves to live at home and be safe in his hometown. Please, let him come back."

"Uhhh…Who's Sasuke?"

...

* * *

He should've known better than that. Sasuke berated himself for booking a room at one of his brother's bases. He ducked behind a swordfish statue as they walked past him to the tea room. This place was dangerous. Very dangerous.

"Can I help you?" Zetsu said.

"AHH! My god, you scared me." Sasuke exclaimed. "Umm…I was just admiring this fine work of art." He patted the swordfish gently and hoped this guy wouldn't question the authenticity of that statement. When the guy just continued to leer at him, he shuffled away from the statue right into Gaara.

"Sasuke?" Hinata gasped. "Oh my…I missed you so much!"

She hugged him tightly. Gaara was less than pleased.

* * *

"SASUKE?" Hidan exclaimed, as Deidara spat out his tea. They heard a commotion from outside of the tea room.

Everyone left the room to check out what was going on.

* * *

"Hinata? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, eying Gaara and Prince Kazekage suspiciously.

"I came to see Prince Kazekage to ask him to end your banishment," she replied, indicating the prince.

"THIS IS THE GUY?" Prince Kazekage exclaimed, "I am never going to allow him to come back to our city!"

"Eh? Why?" Hinata was devastated.

"B-B-Because I said so!"

"What? I…" Sasuke said, clearly confused.

Itachi and the rest of Akatsuki stepped out of the tea room and saw this scene.

"Excuse me," Itachi said, "as manager of this resort, I'm going to have to ask you to stop making a scene. You're disturbing our customers."

Prince Kazekage gasped. "You—you're—"

"HELLO, FATHER." Itachi said. "Now please, take this outside or else I will kick you out."

Truth be told, Prince Kazekage had fathered two illegitimate sons—one of whom he was legitimately scared of (Itachi) and the other of which he had hoped to never have to deal with (Sasuke). Unfortunately, now Sasuke knew the truth.

"FATHER? PRINCE KAZEKAGE IS MY FATHER?" Sasuke was beyond shocked and promptly lost consciousness.

Deidara took advantage of the moment and threw a smoke bomb. Akatsuki quickly whisked Sasuke away, and escorted Prince Kazekage back to his room along with Gaara and Hinata.

* * *

When Sasuke woke up, he looked around the room. It wasn't his hotel room but sure enough, his brother was there.

"Yo," Itachi said.

Sasuke merely nodded and closed his eyes again, wanting it all to be a bad dream. He opened his eyes again and saw the same room with Itachi still sitting next to him. He sighed.

"You ready to go see him?" Itachi asked.

"Never." Sasuke sulked and reluctantly, was dragged to Prince Kazekage's suite.


End file.
